“Modern wide area measurement systems, an overview”

Modern wide area measurement systems began with the advent of GPS synchronized phasor measurement units in mid 1990s. Before the advent of these units, wide area measurements were in use in most power systems to achieve tie-line-bias control and automatic generation control. The blackout of 1965 in northeast America brought about the development of Energy Management Systems, which also depended upon wide area measurements to perform state estimation and other real-time control tasks. The synchronized phasor measurement systems have ushered a fresh start in achieving truly real-time monitoring of power system state - both steady state and dynamic. This lecture will trace the history of wide area measurements, the evolution of phasor measurement units, and their potential applications in modern power system monitoring, protection, and control.